THE LOVE OF MONEY

 

CONT., page 11

 

THE DOOR OF HOPE

We find in the teachings of Yahshua a very consistent and regularly repeated process of exchange that was quite evident in His messages. Yahshua clearly stated that by giving up one's earthly wealth, one receives salvation and that which is eternal or heavenly. This process is seen in the use of the natural in order to obtain the spiritual. Let us lay some of His statements out in a clear this-for-that contrast so that you can see His oft-repeated instructed process. Yahshua said:

 

The Natural

For

The Heavenly

"... sell all that you possess, and distribute it to the poor,

and you shall have treasure in heaven" (Luke 18:22).

"And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name's sake,

shall receive many times as much, and shall inherit eternal life" (Matthew 19:29).

"Sell your possessions and give mercifully;

make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, nor moth destroys" (Luke 12:33).

"... half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much."

And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house" (Luke 19:1-10).

"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field; which a man found and hid; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has,

and buys that field (the kingdom of heaven)" (Matthew 13:44).

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had,

and bought it (the kingdom of heaven)" (Matthew 13:45-46).

"And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the mammon of unrighteousness; that when it fails,

they may receive you into the eternal dwellings" (Luke 16:9).

"Blessed are you who are poor,

for yours is the kingdom of God" (Luke 6:20).

 

Recognizing this oft-repeated exchange, let us now look at another promise made by Yahweh that, as you will clearly see, will be fulfilled in the second Remnant. It is found in Hosea 2:15; also we will go to Isaiah 65:10 to see even further affirmation associated with this developing point. In this verse in Hosea we read:

I will give her her vineyards from there (the wilderness), and the valley of Achor as a door of hope.

What is "the valley of Achor"? It is the valley where Achan was stoned for keeping some of the devoted things from Jericho, whereupon the valley was named after him (Joshua 7:22-24). If you have read the writing, Tabernacles and Devoted Things, you know that Achan was a parallel testimony to what happened to Ananias and Sapphira. Both kept for themselves those things that were devoted to Yahweh upon entering into the promised land, or the kingdom. Thus, Achan, and the valley named after him, or Achor, represents holding all things in common, or giving to Yahweh everything, insomuch that everything becomes devoted to Him. Of course the valley of Achor specifically looks to the judgment of those who will not be entirely faithful in this; but in a positive sense, as we see here in Hosea, it looks to those who will judge themselves on this obviously vital matter!

Herein we thus see how something so marked by violence as the valley of Achor, can be a door of hope. Today, as the words of Yahshua become personal to the Remnant, as these faithful Bride members take all their possessions and give them for the poor Remnant, they in fact judge themselves, and the valley of Achor becomes a door of hope for them!

This is the hope that we, the Remnant Bride, have at this time in which Yahshua is calling His Bride to obey His clearly stated words, to make all that we have, without any exceptions, devoted to Yahweh, giving it up in order to obtain that which is above. And by doing so, He opens the door of hope that we will be His Bride and ascend alive to be with Him! Without a doubt, this is our hope; and this is precisely the promise via the valley of Achor of obeying Yahshua and judging ourselves regarding worldly provisions.

But not only do we have the evidence that this promise applies to the Bride via its association with entering into the promised land and holding all things in common, or even Jericho and its devoted things, but in the very next verse we see that this unequivocally relates to the Bride. In the very next verse, we read:

"And it will come about in that day," declares Yahweh, "that you will call Me 'my husband,' and will no longer call Me 'my Lord'."

Do you need any further evidence that this promise regarding holding all things in common relates specifically to the Bride? The valley of Achor as the door of hope is identified specifically as the means whereby a people will no longer call Yahshua "my Lord," but rather "my Husband"! Christianity even changed the Bible to call Yahweh, "the LORD." To Yahweh, Christianity is Baal worship, as Baal means "lord," and the Hebrew word used here for "Lord" is "Baali." But Yahshua says that many who call Him "Lord, Lord," will not be accepted by Him; but rather, He will say - "Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness" (Matthew 7:21-23).

While the second Remnant were in Christianity, they too were a part of that Baal worship; but now they have come out of it. Why? To now call Him, "my husband"! And how is that husband relationship established? There is only one way, only one door - the valley of Achor! Therefore, for those who want to be the Bride, there is one essential thing we have thus far lacked - sell all and follow Him!

Before we continue to an important and revealing conclusion here regarding the this-for-that nature of Yahshua's words about wealth and the heavenly, as well as the valley of Achor, let us briefly note Isaiah 65:10. Including verse 9, we read:

"And I will bring forth offspring from Jacob, and an heir of My mountains from Judah; even My chosen ones shall inherit it, and My servants shall dwell there. And Sharon shall be a pasture land for flocks, and the valley of Achor a resting place for herds, for My people who seek Me.

The second Remnant find their promised rest in not holding onto the things of this world, but rather in judging themselves in the valley of Achor, using their unrighteous mammon to obtain eternal dwellings.

Thus, the second Remnant find the valley of Achor to be the place of rest. But for those who refuse to divest themselves of riches and to enter this rest, Yahweh next says:

"But you who forsake Yahweh, who forget My holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune, and who fill cups with mixed wine for Destiny, I will destine you for the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter. Because I called, but you did not answer; I spoke, but you did not hear (vss. 11-12).

Clearly, ever so clearly, Yahshua has spoken that which must take place for one to receive that which is from above. And clearly, ever so clearly, Yahweh has repeatedly laid out in His word that which must be done in order to receive His promised "holy mountain." Sell all! But on the other hand, in clear and revealing contrast, those who seek fortune and prestige and security for the future, or destiny, forfeit their souls, even as we see here, and as Yahshua said concerning the rich man who built up his own fortune and destiny by building bigger barns - "You fool! This night your soul is required of you."

Both the contrast laid out here in Yahshua's statements regarding exchanging the natural for the spiritual, as well as what we see here regarding the use of our earthly possessions to be a door of hope, have been considered in order to understand a vital and revealing truth - the natural is always used in order to obtain the spiritual.

Let us ask a revealing question here - How many people do you think will enter into immortal, incorruptible bodies, who did not first possess a natural body? Certainly the answer to this is - none! In order to receive the "born from above" spiritual body, one has to obtain it through possessing the forerunning natural body. Paul wrote - "the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual" (1 Corinthians 15:46). Even in order for there to be Yahshua, the last Adam, there first had to be a first Adam. What is the point of this? In order for one to receive the spiritual, there has to be a natural door that provides the way to receive it.

Even the forgiveness of sin purchased by Yahshua required a natural door. In order for the sins of mankind to be taken by Yahshua, there had to be a natural point of contact; and this was the wine that Yahshua drank while under the vow of a Nazirite. By Yahshua passing through the natural door of the Nazirite vow, He opened the way to the heavenly. This is precisely the opportunity we now have by selling all and holding all things in common. Clearly, divesting ourselves of our riches and holding all things in common, is the one natural door through which we enter into that which is above, the heavenly.

In order for Yahshua to deliver mankind from sin and restore the kingdom of heaven, He had one specific door to go through - the Nazirite vow and the wine. The kingdom of heaven and man could not have been restored any other way. This is equally true for a people who desire to inherit the mountains of Yahweh. There is one door and one door only - the valley of Achor, the door of hope. Yahshua has gone before us and prepared the way; and this in no way discounts His vital work equally as the way, the door; but by both His own this-for-that instruction, as well as Yahweh's word, entrance into the eternal dwellings is made possible through the one natural door of holding all things in common, even the doorway of casting out the moneychangers. Thus once again we see a "natural" requirement that precedes and makes possible the "spiritual" inheritance - the valley of Achor of judging oneself and devoting EVERYTHING to Yahweh, keeping back nothing for yourself.

 

Continue to page 12 of The Love of Money for SONG OF SOLOMON

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